NEW LIFE. NEW ORLEANS. NEW SEASON. ANIMAL PLANET'S "PIT BULLS AND PAROLEES" RETURNS THIS NOVEMBER

-- A Year of Daring Rescues Proves Life In "The Big Easy" Isn't Always Easy for Tia Torres --

(New York, New York) - New Life. New Orleans. Tia Torres has spent 20 years building Villalobos, the largest pit bull rescue in the United States. Recently, she's spent over a year moving her entire operation, including 200+ pit bulls across the country from California to Louisiana and rebuilding it from the bottom up. Once Tia and her family unpacked their bags in "The Big Easy," they were sure they'd found home.

However, the first year in New Orleans hasn't been easy. From a devastating hurricane that took Tia's home to an overwhelming influx of dogs and puppies in need, they've had to work hard to find their footing. The phones never stop ringing in Villalobos' new southern home, but it gives Tia the chance to make an even bigger impact on the lives of misunderstood pit bulls and to give back to the city that gave her a fresh start. Viewers can see another new chapter unfold in an all-new season of PIT BULLS AND PAROLEES premiering Saturday, November 2, at 10 PM (ET/PT).

The fifth season of PIT BULLS AND PAROLEES finds Torres in a completely re-established Villalobos in the heart of the New Orleans' ninth ward. The city offers even more stories of rescue and rehabilitation including a mission involving a protective mama dog and her litter of seven puppies and Tia's dangerous retrieval of two stray pit bulls hiding beneath a precarious two-ton pile of lumber. This season, Tia and her staff are confronted with more cases of dog abuse and dog fighting than ever before. With bigger and more dangerous rescues, Tia, along with her family and parolees, will stop at nothing until peace is restored in "The Big Easy."

"The move to New Orleans has given us the restart we so desperately needed," says Torres. "I'm grateful to this city for making Villalobos feel welcome and that our work has an even greater importance here. I have my family, my dogs, my parolees and a mission - to help as many pit bulls as possible - and that's all I need."

Over the years, Torres has faced the discrimination that came with being married to a convict and endured the intolerance surrounding her beloved pit bull breed. She's also managed to recruit a staff of parolees to help keep her facility run smoothly and has raised two daughters, Tania and Mariah, and adopted twin sons, Kanani aka "Nani" and Keli'i aka "Moe". Torres' deep commitment to second chances is the driving force behind Villalobos - unwanted pit bulls receive the rehabilitation they need to move on to loving homes and parolees who can't find jobs elsewhere are given a shot at redemption.

PIT BULLS AND PAROLEES is produced for Animal Planet by 44 Blue Productions and Rive Gauche Television. Rasha Drachkovitch is the executive producer for 44 Blue Productions. For Animal Planet, Lisa Lucas is the executive producer, and Patrick Keegan is the producer.

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 97 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.